Airbats Attack!
by FreyOfDavis
Summary: 801 TTS Airbats. Caught in a civil war in a foreign country, the Airbats fly into combat for the first time.
1. Transfer

801 TTS Airbats is a romantic comedy about an all-female aerobatics team in the Japanese Air Force. The plot centers around their struggle to gain acceptance in a male-dominated profession, and a love triangle between the mechanic, Isorugi, and the two top pilots, Miyuki and Arisa. It's a fun anime, light-hearted, not too deep. This story is my attempt to add a little something. Hope you enjoy!

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Memo to Captain Kinishi, Commanding Officer, 801st Tactical Training Squadron (a.k.a. Airbats)

From General Hidetori, Commanding Officer, Central Command.

Orders follow. Authorization Delta 9 X-ray.

Effective May 1, 20--, the 801st TTS is temporarily reassigned to the Fourth Attack Squadron of the Malaysian Air Force pursuant to the East Asia Friendship and Military Cooperation Treaty. You are to provide training and advice in air combat maneuvering to local pilots, in full cooperation with local military authorities. Assignment is for three months, with possible one-time extension for three months.

End of message.

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Captain Kinishi spoke into the phone in his deep voice. Master Sergeant Sayuki entered, and the captain waved her in, obviously wanting her to hear what was happening. "Sir, it's about these orders….Yes, sir, I realize that. It's just that given the situation over there, is it wise? … Yes, sir….Well, sir, may I suggest a minimal complement…. I'm thinking two pilots, plus our mechanic…Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist…. Well, sir, I can't be sure, but I believe it's very possible that all of our pilots are sick… Yes, sir. The flu. All of them are sick in bed, and even if they recover soon, it's doubtful the flight surgeon will clear them for operations anytime soon… Sir, I believe that two of them are worse off than the others. If they could be allowed to stay here and recuperate, the other cases don't seem that serious…Yes, sir. … Very good, sir… That's right, sir. I can go, with two pilots and our mechanic… Yes, sir…. Thank you, sir." He hung up the phone with a sigh.

"What's up?" asked Sayuki. Kinishi handed her the orders, and she read them. "Are they serious?" she asked, looking up from the memo.

"Serious as stomach cancer."

"Isn't that country in the middle of a civil war? Did you remind them of that? I think there was a rebel air strike on the capital just last week."

"You heard me on the phone just now. And that's exactly the same conversation I've been having all morning with various commanders and generals. They want to show solidarity with our southern allies, and they're going to throw the Airbats into the wringer to do it." He looked at Sayuki. "At least I got them to agree to a minimal complement. Sergeant, I need you to stay here."

Sayuki didn't like that idea. "Sir, with all due respect, perhaps I –"

"No argument, Sergeant. I need you here, to protect our interests and make sure they don't forget about us. You're the only one I trust to hold the fort here. When that three months is up, I want the Airbats coming home, understand?"

Sayuki stood at attention. "Yes, sir," she said, with a tone that indicated she didn't like the order, but saw the reason for it.

"Good. I'll have Sergeant Yohko stay here and help you." He looked out the window again at the flight line, where his two best pilots, Miyuki and Arisa, were doing their pre-flight checks with the mechanic Isorugi's help. "It would seem that the rest of us are going to war."

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One month later.

It was quiet in the pilot's ready room. Not the gentle relaxed quiet of friends who were comfortable enough with each other that they felt no need for talk, but rather the tense, oppressive quiet of two people who were trying hard not to say anything because a conservation would only lead to an argument.

Miyuki and Arisa tried to relax while working hard at ignoring each other. Miyuki was reading a maintenance manual, and Arisa was intently playing her hand-held video game. Miyuki heard the beeps coming from the game as Arisa defended an electronic Earth from alien hordes, and sighed. "Arisa," she said. When her teammate didn't respond, she repeated it, louder this time.

Arisa replied this time, though not taking her eyes or hands from the game. "What?"

"Do you mind? I'm trying to read."

"Hey, if you don't like it, you can leave."

Miyuki sighed again. Generally, she was a pretty easy-going person, but Arisa had always had a way of pushing her buttons. When Isorugi joined their unit, their rivalry for his affections had made matters worse. And maybe it was the humid climate down here, or maybe it was the isolation, but lately Arisa had seemingly been even more belligerent.

The training had been going OK, but there was still a strong anti-Japanese sentiment among the soldiers, and Arisa's attitude didn't help. A few days ago, this had almost caused a fist fight between her and one of the Malaysian pilots. Miyuki had managed to calm things down, but the tension was still there.

The door opened, and Captain Kinishi came in. A big bearded man, he dominated the room, making it feel a little claustrophobic. His mood did nothing to assuage this feeling, either. "That arrogant, full-of-himself jerk!"

"What's wrong, sir?" asked Miyuki in the sweetest voice she could manage, hoping to calm her boss down.

"Take a look outside the window." As Arisa and Miyuki did so, he said, "See your planes?"

Arisa looked at their Kawasaki T-4s on the flight line. "Wait a minute. Are those gun pods under our wings?"

Kinishi nodded. "Twenty mike-mike. The base commander insisted. He wants all planes armed and ready for combat, including ours."

"Well, did you tell him we're here for training, not combat?"

"I did, repeatedly. But he said that his planes were out on strike missions, so we had to take over air defense duties."

"Well, if that's the case, we should be in the air. Let's go, Arisa."

Their commander stopped them. "No way. You're not making yourselves targets. You're not flying." The door opened, and Isorugi stepped in. Unfortunately, this put him right in the path of the commander's wrath. "Sergeant, where have you been? I called for you ten minutes ago!"

After snapping off a quick salute, Isorugi explained. "Sorry, sir, I was working on that old Dragonfly in the hanger. I'm pretty sure the problem is a bad fuel pump, and—"

"Never mind that! Sheesh, don't you have enough to do taking care of our own planes?"

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir! You said you wanted me to remove the gun pods, sir?"

"Never mind that now. The base commander wouldn't budge, and my orders are to give 'all respect and cooperation to the local command structure.' Which means that the gun pods stay on the planes. But so help me, those planes are staying on the ground!"

"Hi, Isorugi," said Miyuki in an even sweeter voice, and was rewarded with a smile from the young mechanic. She ignored the venomous look from Arisa.

The captain, who hadn't noticed the exchange, went on. "You know what the base commander said to me? He said that the Japanese are a people in love with peace! What do you think of that?"

No one was particularly eager to answer. They were saved by the sudden wailing of sirens all over the base. They went outside to see the local base personnel running towards the slit trenches or anti-aircraft implacements. Kinishi grabbed one of the men and asked what was happening.

"Are you deaf? It's an air raid! We got incoming rebel planes!" The man shook his arm loose from Kinishi's grip and went on his way.

Arisa looked at Miyuki, who nodded. They ran off towards their planes, followed by Isorugi. As they get into the cockpits and started their engines up, Isorugi checked the pods under the wings. Assuring himself that they were well attached, he removed the chocks from the wheels. The commander ran up. "What are you doing?" he asked, as the planes began to move.

Isorugi tried to push his commander out of the way. "Sir, we'd better get to shelter!" he shouted over the roar of the engines.

The commander stood his ground. "Sergeant Mitaka, Sergeant Haneda, shut your engines down and get out of those planes!"

Miyuki looked at her commander and tapped her earphones, indicating she couldn't hear what he was saying. The commander shouted again, but realized the futility of further argument right now and let Isorugi usher him away as the fighters taxied to the runway. Miyuki radioed Arisa. "Ready to take off?"

"I'm not sure 'ready' is the right term for what we're about to do, but let's go." The two fighters roared down the runway and into the sky.

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Thanks for reading! The next chapter should be up within two days.


	2. Fight!

The two fighters streaked into the air and climbed for altitude. Arisa looked for Miyuki, and found her right where a good wingman should be: behind, to the left, and a little above, giving her plenty of space to maneuver. Arisa radioed the tower for directions. "Base, this is Bat flight. Where are the bogies?"

"Bat flight, this is Captain Kinishi. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but no one's going to attack to this base and hurt our people if we have anything to say it."

"Sergaent Haneda?"

Miyuki toggled her mike. "Sir, if she goes, I go. If you want to court-martial us when we get back, fine. Until then, where are those planes?"

The commander looked over at Isorugi, who was in the tower with him. His expression conveyed exasperation, but also a hint of pride. "Come right 80 degrees and go to angels fifteen. We still count four bogies. Radar signatures say Mig 21s."

"Roger that," came from both planes, and they headed towards the enemy.

Arisa keyed her mike again. "Miyuki, tuck in. If we can get close enough, we might merge our radar contacts."

"And make them think we're only one plane. Good thinking." She moved so that her aircraft was just under Arisa's.

A minute later, nothing had changed. The Airbats were almost at their target altitude, and the Migs weren't doing anything yet. _Is this combat?_, Arisa thought. _It's kind of boring_.

Miyuki's voice came over the radio. "Arisa, looks like they saw us. Two bogies are breaking towards our twelve." A few seconds later, she added, in a notably higher pitched voice, "Incoming! Missiles inbound!"

"Roger." Arisa saw them on her screen too. _Careful what you wish for_, she thought grimly. She mentally reviewed her knowledge of missiles, trying to figure out what was speeding toward them at Mach 2 with an explosive warhead. _Probably Atolls, probably radar homing_.

"Impact in six seconds. Five." Miyuki's voice was a little calmer now.

"Steady."

"Three. Arisa!"

"Two. Break! Break now!"

The two planes flew apart suddenly and evaded. The missiles that had been chasing them saw one blip turn to two. They attempted to turn, but it was too late. The Atolls lost their targets completely and self-destructed.

"That was close."

"It's not over yet. Here they come!"

The Migs had closed the range, and one of them fired another Atoll. Miyuki turned and rolled, popping flares, miniature suns that would hopefully be a more attractive target to a heat seeker than her own engines. The missile went after one of them and exploded.

Arisa was doing some hard maneuvers herself, trying to get behind the delta-winged Mig, which bored in at Miyuki. She got into firing position behind it, shouted "Guns," to warn Miyuki, and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Arisa pulled the trigger again, and then again. She saw the safety switch on her cockpit, in the safe position. "Oh, for God's sake," she said to herself as she hit it, putting it to the armed position. The Mig still hadn't seen her, and she pulled the trigger once more. "Guns!"

This time it worked. The gun pods under her wings sparkled, and 20 mm shells hit the enemy's fuselage and wing. The plane started to smoke, and the wing broke off as if cut by scissors. The Mig started to tumble. Arisa watched as the canopy came off and the pilot ejected. "Gotcha!" Arisa came up next to Miyuki. "You OK?"

"A little shaken, but I'm fine. Look out!" Miyuki broke away, and Arisa looked. The other Mig had not gone away, and had fired another missile at them. Arisa broke away hard, but the missile followed. She dove, pumping out flares to draw the missile off. The Atoll seemed glued to her. Desperate, she dove harder and then climbed as sharply as she could, performing a loop that made her head feel like it was in a vise. When she recovered, she was still alive and still flying.

She looked around, and saw Miyuki behind her. "Where'd that Mig go?"

"He made a firing pass at me, but then he disappeared."

"Any damage?"

"Just to my flight suit."

Arisa chuckled. "Yeah, mine too. C'mon. Those other two Migs are almost to the base."

"What about the other escort?"

"We'll just have to keep an eye out for him." Arisa pushed her throttles to full power. Miyuki followed. They'd survived the dogfight, but it had eaten up too much time. The bombers would be able to make at least one pass before she and Miyuki got into range. "Bat flight to base."

"Bat flight, this is base. Are you all right?"

Miyuki spoke. "Isorugi, is that you?"

"Yes, I'm here in the tower."

"Where's the commander?" Arisa asked.

"He went to organize the air defense. I think he's taking this a little personally."

Arisa couldn't help smiling behind her oxygen mask. _Yes, maybe we are a people in love with peace. But not when you piss us off._

Miyuki spoke again. "Isorugi, listen to me. We won't be able to stop the bombers before they reach you. Evacuate the control tower now."

"But I can help you from here."

"That wasn't a suggestion, mister. That was an order from a superior officer. Get to the trenches!" Her voice softened as she added, "Isorugi, please."

"Yes, ma'am. One more thing. We've picked up something else on the radar to the north. They're at low altitude, so it's hard to tell, but they're multiple contacts, and they look like helicopters."

"Bat flight, acknowledged. Now go, and keep your heads down until it's over." Miyuki broke contact with the base, and talked to Arisa. "Helicopters. An airborne troop assault?"

"Maybe, but we can't worry about that now. Our first priority is those bombers. Estimate contact in ninety seconds."

"But they'll be over the base in thirty!"

"I know." Arisa tried not to think about what damage the attack would do. _Please hurry, Isorugi_. A vision came, of her finding Isorugi's broken body underneath a pile of rubble. She forced it from her mind. She looked over at Miyuki, and wondered what visions she was trying not to have.

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The rebel planes assigned to attack the base, which were in fact not Migs, but Sukhoi 7 Fitter fighter-bombers, arrived at their initial point, from which they started the attack run. They carried a mix of light bombs and rocket pods. The plan was to attack with bombs first, then use the rockets on the next pass. The appearance of enemy fighters had been an unpleasant surprise, but it looked like the escorts had done their job, and the attack would proceed unmolested. The two planes went into a shallow dive, and released their bombs on the runway. The planes swung around for another pass, and the lead pilot surveyed their work. There weren't as many craters on the runway as he would have liked, and they weren't as large as he would have liked, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Anyone landing at the base now would have a difficult time getting down without a crash. He lined up on his next target, a government helicopter on the tarmac. He scanned the sky out of habit, and got a very rude shock.

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Arisa shook with rage when she saw the damage to the runway. She spoke into her mike again. "OK, round one went to the bad guys, but round two is ours. More to the point, the one on the left is mine. You take the other one."

"Roger that."

Arisa lined up on her target. Its bombs were gone, but it still had rocket pods, and appeared to have started its attack run. Arisa knew she had to get there first, and opened up the throttles, firing her guns as soon as she was in range. The Sukhoi's pilot saw her and flew straight at her, firing his cannons.

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The Fitter pilot was torn between anger and fear as the two planes passed each other at high speed. No rounds had hit him, and he was pretty sure his own gunnery was no better. As he swung around for another pass, he saw the other plane doing the same. As they lined up again, he switched his weapons selector to the rockets under his wings. _Eat this_, he thought. Suddenly, he heard sounds like rocks hitting his plane and he felt it shudder in the air.

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Arisa saw the anti-aircraft gun firing from the ground, and saw it score some hits on her opponent. She bored in and gave a Fitter a long burst into the nose. As they passed each other, this time she noticed the enemy's engine starting to smoke.

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The Sukhoi's pilot saw Arisa, but it was too late to shoot. He felt each impact his plane took, and soon he heard the unmistakable sound of a highly sophisticated, finely tuned jet engine shaking itself into pieces of scrap metal. He clawed for altitude while he could and reached for the ejection handle.

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Arisa saw the parachute floating down as the Fitter crashed into the jungle. She also saw the ground crews cheering, led by Commander Kinishi, who was more excited than the rest put together. "Miyuki, where are you?"

"Right here." Miyuki's plane eased in next to Arisa's. "You should have seen it! When he saw me, that driver dumped his rockets and took off! I bet he's all the way to the rebel capital by now, and still going full speed!"

"Good girl. Looks like the bombers are out of the picture. Now we have to deal with—"

Arisa saw the missile a split-second before it exploded. Her quick reaction time saved her life, but the missile was close enough that the proximity fuse was triggered, and her right wing was holed by shrapnel when the warhead exploded. The Mig that fired the missile was close behind, and he singled out Arisa, eager to avenge his comrades. "Dammit, he's back!" She did her best evasive maneuvers, but the Mig stayed with her. Desperate, Arisa tried the oldest trick in the book. She cut her throttle and pulled the speed brake. For a moment, her plane seemed to stand still in the air, and the Mig flew past her. She knew she'd have to take the Mig down fast, and got it in her sights and pulled the trigger. The cannons spat out a few rounds, but then went silent. _Oh, no,_ Arisa thought as tried pulling the trigger again. The problem this time wasn't a switch in the wrong place. The guns were out of ammo. Before she could react, the Mig was behind her again, and she was fighting for her life.

Miyuki tried to get behind the Mig, but the enemy pilot was savvy, and knew how to do his own evasive maneuvers, while staying close to his quarry, so Miyuki couldn't fire for fear of hitting Arisa. She felt helpless, and wracked her brain for something, anything. She remembered something Isorugi had told her about last month.

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"The Thatch Weave?" Miyuki sipped her soda opposite Isorugi. They'd managed to get together off-base for a couple of hours, moments together that were still few and far between. They were enjoying an after-movie snack.

"Yep. It was invented by an American naval aviator named Jimmy Thatch during the war. See, the problem the Americans faced was that our planes were faster and more maneuverable. They had all the advantages in a straight up dogfight."

"And this "weave" made up for that?"

"That was the idea." Isorugi held his hands to simulate flying planes. "Two planes fly together, leader and wingman, like so." He held his hands next to each other like two planes flying together in formation. "Now, if an enemy fighter gets on to the tail of one, they turn into each other so their flight paths cross, like so." Isorugi turned his hands towards each other and crossed his arms, arching the hands so that they were pointed toward each other again. "Then they turn into each other again, and the wingman gets a shot at the enemy plane on his leader's tail. A Zero attacks his target, five seconds later, he's got six heavy machine guns pointed at his face. It was very effective."

Miyuki took another sip of her soda. "I bet."

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Arisa jinked like crazy. "Miyuki, where are you?"

"Arisa, hang on, I'm going to try something."

Arisa felt her plane shake as a burst of cannonfire hit her tail. "Well, try fast!"

Miyuki came on the mike again. "Arisa, I'm at your nine o'clock. Turn into me, now!"

"Roger." Arisa turned, and her pursuer followed. The speeds were too great, and Miyuki flew past Arisa without getting a clear shot at the Mig.

"Keep turning, Arisa! Come on!" Miyuki turned into Arisa's plane again. As the three planes raced toward each other, Miyuki took her shot. Rounds squirted out of the gun pods, narrowly missing Arisa's plane and impacting the Mig's cockpit.

Miyuki looked behind her as Arisa got clear. She turned again, ready to hit the Mig again, but as she got her nose pointed toward it, it exploded and plummeted towards the ground, impacting on the jungle to the north of the base.

Arisa came up beside her. "Thanks."

"You OK?"

"Rudder's a little stiff, but I'm still in the air."

"Did you see a chute from the Mig?"

Arisa paused slightly before saying, "No, I didn't." When Miyuki didn't respond, "Look, Miyuki, I feel bad for the guy, too, but those helicopters are still in-bound. We've still got a job to do. My guns are dry. I can't do it myself."

"Roger that. Taking the lead." Miyuki turned her plane north, and Arisa followed.

"Base to Bat flight, come in."

Miyuki toggled her mike. "Isorugi?"

"That was so cool! The way you went head on, and dived, and looped. Neato!"

His voice was replaced by Kinishi's. "Thank you, sergeant. I'm sure they appreciate your applause. Base to Bat flight, sit-rep."

"We're at angels four, heading due north. We can't see those choppers yet. There's a lot of ground clutter."

"Roger. We've lost them here, too. They must have gone too low for our radar. Keep looking."

"Acknowledged. Arisa, I think we're safe from Migs, so we should separate. We have to find them before they reach the base!"

"I'll keep visual contact. Don't forget to check your six!"

"I won't." Miyuki watched Arisa peel away, and resumed her own search. She debated with herself whether to descend, but decided that her current altitude gave the best chance of spotting the helos while allowing her to survey the broadest area.

"Arisa to Miyuki. Tally-ho!"

"You found them?"

"Hedge hopping, right above the trees. Sneaky bastards. Follow me down!"

Miyuki turned her plane toward Arisa's and kicked in her afterburner to catch up. As they descended, she saw them. Four Russian-made Mi-8 transports, all painted in jungle camouflage. Miyuki also saw two rocket pods slung to the sides of each one.

Arisa called. "I'll take the lead on the first pass. Let's see if we can't scare them off."

"Roger that." Miyuki smiled to herself. Those chopper jockeys weren't going to enjoy this. As they closed with their quarry, Miyuki saw flashes coming from one of them. "Arisa, they're shooting at us."

"It's a door gunner. A nervous door gunner. Nice try, pal, but no soap."

The two planes banked slightly and roared across the choppers' noses, barely missing them. The helicopters stayed in formation and on course.

Arisa noticed this. "Guess we didn't scare them enough, Miyuki."

"Roger. I've got the lead."

Miyuki took the front position as they came around for another pass. When they got in range, Miyuki took aim and fired. Two streams of 20mm fire passed in front of the lead helicopter. It swerved and almost collided with one of its companions. That was too much. The formation reversed course and headed for home.

"Woo-hoo! Looks like that did it, Miyuki!"

Miyuki took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank God."

"Bat flight to base. They're turning back. I repeat, the helicopter force is retreating. Returning to base."

"Roger that, Bat flight. Land on runway two; it has a few holes in it, but if you're careful, you should be OK. Good work."

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Arisa hiccupped once as she unsteadily made her way outside. She felt rather light-headed. It had been quite a party.

The celebration had started right away. The base commander had returned by the time she and Miyuki touched down, and immediately ordered several cases of alcohol, including a few bottles of sake. When the other pilots came back from their missions and heard the news, they insisted on joining the party. That was five hours ago. It had wound down by now, but the laughter and singing coming from the cafeteria told her that there were a few revelers still standing including Captain Kinishi and the base commander.

They could laugh and sing all they liked. Arisa had another mission in mind. She didn't know whether it was the alcohol, or the thrill of being in combat for the first time, but she was finally feeling confident enough to be honest with herself about how she really felt about Isorugi. And she was feeling just foolhardy enough to tell him.

She figured he'd be in the hangar, with their planes. He'd been the most excited when they'd landed, of course, counting every bullet hole on Arisa's plane, and pointing out to everyone the powder marks left by the gun pods when they had fired. He had had one too many at the party, but she knew he wouldn't go to sleep without checking his beloved aircraft one more time.

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He was crouching under the tailplane, inspecting the damage. She came around and waited until he noticed her. He did, and stood suddenly, hitting his head on the plane with a loud bang. Arisa rushed over as he put his hand to his head. "I'm sorry, are you all right?"

"It's nothing." Arisa gently removed Irorugi's hand and looked at the damaged area. "How is it?"

"It's fine, just a little lump. Here, let's sit down."

"No, I have to show you this." He led Arisa over and pointed to the tailplane. "See? See, where those cannon holes are? If they'd been just a little over, you'd have lost that entire fin."

Arisa looked. She shuddered a little, thinking what a close call it had been. She stepped forward for a closer look, and was surprised by Isorugi, suddenly hugging her from behind. She turned in his arms. "Isorugi?"

He put his finger on her lips to silence her. "The whole time you were up there, my heart was in my throat. And now I know how close I came to losing you. I couldn't let that happen without…" He was interrupted by Arisa's finger on his lips.

"I know, Isorugi. Just kiss me."

"Oh, Arisa." He leaned in.

"Oh, Isorugi." She tilted her head and puckered up.

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Arisa giggled as she walked towards the hanger, then shook her head. This wasn't some romantic movie for teenage girls, this was reality. She stopped in front of the hanger, took a deep breath, and strode in.

A few lights were on, but not enough. She flipped the main switch, and the hanger was brightly lit. She saw the planes, but no Isorugi. She looked around, thinking he'd gone to get a part or something, but there was no sign of any preparations for work. If he had been there, he was gone now.

_OK, so he went to bed_, she thought, leaving the hanger. _Should I? Maybe this can wait_. Arisa shook her head to herself. _No, I'm not waiting. It has to be now_. She walked over to the barracks. When she opened the door to the guest quarters that he shared with Captain Kinishi, she found the bed empty and unused. She left the room, wondering where he could be.

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In the hanger, Miyuki looked at her plane's tail fin. She shuddered a little, thinking what a close call it had been. She stepped forward for a closer look, and was surprised by Isorugi, suddenly hugging her from behind. She turned in his arms. "Isorugi?"

He put his finger on her lips to silence her. "The whole time you were up there, my heart was in my throat. And now I know how close I came to losing you. I couldn't let that happen without…" He was interrupted by Miyuki's finger on his lips.

"I know, Isorugi. Just kiss me."

"Oh, Miyuki." He leaned in.

"Oh, Isorugi." She tilted her head and puckered up.

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Arisa leaned against the wall of the barracks and sunk to a sitting position, brought down by the lead weight that had suddenly appeared in her stomach. That had to be it. Miyuki was as interested in Isorugi as she was. She must have slipped away, gone to the hanger before her, and … And why wouldn't Isorugi choose her? She was prettier, and smarter, and nicer. So stupid to think that--

"Hey."

Arisa looked up to see Miyuki, standing above her. She hurriedly wiped the tears from her face and stood up. "Hey."

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Arisa spoke first. "Listen, I wanted to tell you, that was some great flying out there today."

"Well, I was pretty good, I guess."

"I mean it. I'm just really glad I had you watching my back. You can fly my wing anytime, partner."

Miyuki smiled. "Deal." A somewhat less uncomfortable silence followed. "So, where's Isorugi?"

"Huh? I don't know. I thought, well, I mean, I thought he was with you."

"He's not with me. I thought maybe he was with you."

Both women were silent for a moment, then broke up in laughter as they realized how silly they had been. Miyuki was the first to recover, and said, "So where you suppose he is?"

Arisa caught her breath. "Well, he's not with our planes, I know that. You don't suppose he went back to the party, do you?"

"No, I wouldn't think so." Miyuki thought. "Wait a minute. You know that plane you shot down over the base?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to the pilot?"

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Isorugi and the enemy pilot were in deep conversation over a bottle of sake. The pilot was very friendly once he was certain he wasn't going in front of a firing squad. He was a jovial man, overweight and with a thick beard. "Yeah, the Sukhoi-7's a solid plane. Ruggedly built, can really take a licking. Gotta admit, I miss my Skyhawk, though."

"You flew the A-4 Skyhawk? Where?"

"That was the last war, in a little country in North Africa that you've probably never heard of."

"The Asranian civil war?"

The pilot was surprised. "Ha, ha! So, word of our exploits made it all the way out here, huh?"

"I read all about it in Combat Aircraft magazine. So you are a mercenary pilot."

"Yeah, well, it's a job, and it's a job I do well. When the civil war ended, I bummed around in Africa for a while, then came here."

"So what happens to you now?"

"Not sure. I've never been captured before. But, I guess what'll happen is, they'll keep me in a prison camp for a little while, then repatriate me back home. I visit the folks, enjoy the civilized life for a while, then look for my next job."

Isorugi was about to reply, but stopped when he saw Miyuki and Arisa in the doorway. The pilot saw his reaction, and turned to see their visitors. "Well! Looks like we have company! Come on in, ladies! I'd offer you a drink, but…" He hold up the empty bottle, with an expression of regret.

"That's all right." Miyuki produced a bottle of sake. "We figured you might be due for a refill."

The pilot looked at the bottle. "A beautiful woman with booze? I think I'm in love! Join us!"

Isorugi made the introductions. "These are Sergeants Miyuki and Arisa, our best pilots."

The pilot's face hardened. "Best pilots, huh? So, was it one of you that shot my tail off?"

The air was suddenly tense. Arisa stepped forward. "That was me. Problem?"

The pilot stepped right up to her. "Yeah, I got a problem." They stared each other down for a few moments. The pilot broke into a grin and grabbed Arisa in an engulfing bearhug. "Where were you when I was fighting for my life over the desert? That was some of the best flying I've over seen!"

Miyuki and Isorugi breathed a sigh of relief as the pilot let go, and they all sat down. Isorugi begun to introduce the pilot. "Arisa, Miyuki, this is-"

"I'm sorry. Where are my manners?" He stuck a pudgy hand out. "The name's Gates. Greg Gates." The two women shook his hand, and the four settled in to trade war stories until the early morning hours.

------------------------------------------------------E-----------------------------------------

Fans of the anime Area 88 will recognize the enemy pilot. I'm a big fan, and it seemed like a good place for a mini-crossover.

So, there it is, my own little contribution to the Airbats universe. I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading.


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